Kodak EasyShare C663

Color (4.58)
This digital camera comes with a Kodak Color Science Chip, which is advertised to produce realistic colors. Although, looking at the pictures on the LCD screen will leave viewers a bit skeptical. We tested the C663’s ability to reproduce colors by photographing the GretagMacbeth chart, which displays 24 different color tiles so industry professionals can compare the camera’s pictures with the real thing. That is just what we did: we uploaded the images into Imatest Imaging Software to compare the original colors of the chart with those produced by the camera. Below is a chart output by Imatest; it shows the original GretagMacbeth’s colors in the vertical rectangles of each tile. The outer squares show those colors produced by the Kodak EasyShare C663 and the inner squares represent the ideal, corrected for luminance.

Because the chart looks like a poorly painted piece of pop art, we’ve included another chart below to illustrate the camera’s color error. The ideal colors of the original chart are shown as squares, with the C663’s colors represented as circles. In a perfect world, only circles would be seen because they would cover up the squares. However, many of the shapes are connected by lines that show the degree of error.

The C663 gets a bad start by not properly balancing the whites; the white circle is off-center of the grid. Cameras usually gauge all other colors from the white balance point, and there is no custom setting on this model. It is like a traveler who tries to find the North Star to navigate, but accidentally chooses the wrong star and ends up hundreds of miles from the destination.

Indeed, the camera’s colors are far from where they should be. We tested the camera using the automatic and tungsten white balance settings, with the tungsten preset giving us the best results. With this, the Kodak EasyShare C663 mustered a 4.58 overall color score which is one of the lowest scores we’ve seen on recent models. The C663 over-saturated its colors by 18.9 percent and had a whopping mean color error of 14.5. This is incredibly disappointing and users who are attracted by other features on this camera will have to remember that the C663 has a parallel universe where colors are morphed and output as completely different hues.

Resolution (2.36)
The Kodak EasyShare C663 advertises 6.1 megapixels, which we tested the effectiveness of by photographing an industry standard resolution chart. The chart has all kinds of patterns and lines of various shapes and thicknesses to determine how well the camera can reproduce a sharp picture. We used different exposure settings to ensure the sharpest picture possible and our best results came from a photo snapped at a focal length of 16.8mm and an aperture of f/4.6. Below is the resolution chart taken by the C663.

Click on the chart above to view the full res image

We uploaded all of the images into Imatest for analyzing; the software program determined that this shot was sharpest, providing quantitative results in units of line widths per picture height (lw/ph). This measurement describes how many alternating black and white lines of equal thickness could fit across the frame both horizontally and vertically. Cameras with low resolution would blend the small lines together, so their number of lw/ph would be low.

The Kodak EasyShare C663 managed to resolve 1332 lw/ph horizontally and 1279 lw/ph vertically. Both directions were slightly under-sharpened: the horizontal plane by 2.43 percent and the vertical by 6.27 percent. By way of comparison, the 6-megapixel Nikon Coolpix S5 resolved 1497 lw/ph horizontally and 1493 lw/ph vertically – although it did so with a vast amount of in-camera sharpening. The Fujifilm FinePix F30 advertises a touch more resolution at 6.3 megapixels, but its numbers are far above those from the Kodak or even the Nikon. The F30 resolved 2005 lw/ph horizontally and 1786 lw/ph vertically. The F30 is on the extreme end of the spectrum, but it shows the difference in resolution even though all three manufacturers here listed 6-6.3 megapixels. Unfortunately, the Kodak EasyShare C663’s 6-megapixel resolution isn’t at all impressive. For that, it received an awful 2.36 overall score.

Still Life Scene
Below is a shot of our delightful still life arrangement, as captured by the Kodak EasyShare C663.

Click on the image above to view a full resolution version

Noise – Auto ISO (2.63)
When the EasyShare C663 was set to automatically choose its own ISO setting, it didn’t quite meter properly. In our bright studio lighting, most compact digital cameras choose the lowest ISO setting possible. This camera, however, produced noise equivalent to the noise found near the manual ISO 200 setting. Another poor rating for the Kodak C663: 2.63.

Noise – Manual ISO (5.95)
At a time when digital cameras are coming with more sensitivity options, the Kodak EasyShare C663 is a bit behind with its limited manual ISO range. Its options consist of 80, 100, 200, and 400. Below is a chart showing the camera’s ISO settings on the horizontal axis and the produced noise on the vertical axis.

The 80 and 100 settings handle noise decently, but are still noisier than many other models’ equivalent settings. The higher ISO 200 and 400 settings, which are still in the standard range of every digital camera, are quite noisy. For its fair performance, the Kodak C663 received a 5.95 overall manual ISO noise score.

Low Light (3.25)
We tested the C663’s capability to capture images in low light by photographing the color chart, but dimming the studio lighting to 60, 30, 15, and 5 lux. The 60 lux test is roughly equivalent to photographing in a softly lit living room after dusk. The 30 lux test is similar to shooting with a single 40-watt bulb in the room. The 15 and 5 lux tests are extremely dark, almost like shooting with a tiny night light, and won’t often be used with everyday photography. Still, these tests show any limitations that the image sensor may have.

Low Light Tests
60 Lux	30 Lux
15 Lux	5 Lux

Testing this camera in low light was an absolute nightmare. In the Auto mode, the C663 wouldn’t open the shutter longer than about a half-second, leaving pictures horribly under-exposed in the 15 and 5 lux tests. Using the night scene mode opens the shutter longer, but automates the white balance with terrible results: the C663’s colors were already discolored in bright light, and they get exponentially worse in low light. In the Program mode, there is a feature that lets users keep the shutter open up to 8 seconds. This finally produced a decent exposure, but the pictures turned out unfocused and the metering system went haywire. The C663 would flash and say that the picture would turn out over-exposed by 3.7 stops, when in actuality, the file would be at least a full stop under-exposed. So using the Program mode allows the shutter to remain open, but the focusing system virtually shuts down and the metering system goes crazy and requires users to guess their way into decent shots.

It is a common issue for digital cameras to produce increasing amounts of noise as the shutter remains open longer, which happens in these low light performance tests. Below is a chart showing the exposure duration on the horizontal axis and the noise level on the vertical axis.

Indeed, the noise level increases as the exposure time increases. There is quite a rise in noise, but that is only one of many problems with the Kodak EasyShare C663. In low light, the pictures are noisy, out of focus, discolored, and they are nearly impossible to properly expose anyway. In conclusion, either don’t get the C663 or don’t shoot after about 4 in the afternoon.

Dynamic Range (5.75)
The extend in which a camera can record information in extreme bright and dark tones is referred to as a camera’s dynamic range. To test the Kodak C663’s dynamic range, we took a series of exposures of a standardized back-lit Stouffer step wedge and ran the results through Imatest Imaging software. Dynamic range is measured in EV, or stops of exposure. A dynamic range of 5 EV means that the lightest object that shows detail in the image is 5 stops brighter than the darkest area with detail. The High Quality measurement expresses the dynamic range the camera achieves with 1/10EV of noise or less, while the Low Quality reading measures the range with up to 1 EV of noise.

The Kodak C663 did not perform very well on our dynamic range tests, delivering adequate performance at ISO 80 and 100 settings, but taking a significant hit when the sensitivity was pushed. With limited dynamic range, images will appear contrasty and flat, with more of the composition falling into pure black and white tones. At ISO 200, the Kodak C663 stays around 5 EV at high quality, which is better than some of its EasyShare cohorts, but still a good deal behind other competing models, like Fuji’s FinePix F470.

Speed / Timing
Start-up to First Shot (7.26)
The Kodak C663 took 2.74 seconds to boot up and snap the first picture. This is fairly average, especially for a camera at this price point. The good news is that the camera doesn’t take much longer even when the flash is activated.

Shot to Shot (9.56)
The Kodak EasyShare C663 has a decent burst mode; it took 30 consecutive shots faster than 2 fps. With a picture being taken every 0.44 seconds, the camera’s burst was fast and long. The downside came after the pictures were snapped though: it took over 31 seconds to write all the information to the memory card!

Shutter to Shot (8.38)
Consumers who despise the typical shutter lag that plagues so many cheap point-and-shoot cameras will be dissatisfied with this model. The Kodak EasyShare C663 took 0.31 seconds from the moment the shutter release button was pressed to the time the picture was captured.

Intro	Page 2 of 13		Physical Tour
Kodak EasyShare C663 Digital Camera Review Navigation
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